Near Field Communications, or NFC, is widely believed to be the next big thing in mobile. The chips allow the possibility of your phone talking to other mobile devices securely and through encryption at a limited range, opening the door to mobile payment: for example, the ability to pay for a subway token by waving your smartphone in front of the turnstile, or your groceries by waving your phone across the cash register.

According to internet scuttlebutt, Apple is very interested in introducing NFC technology in the next iPhone… but it appears that Google will beat them to the punch, as they are now testing the mobile payment technology by installing thousands of VeriFone NFC readers at merchants in New York and San Francisco.

According to Bloomberg, Google’s test would combine a consumer’s financial account information, gift-card balances, store loyalty cards and coupon subscriptions on a single NFC chip on an Android phone. The test is expected to begin in the next four months, although there’s no official confirmation.

This isn’t a big surprise. Google introduced NFC support in Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and the Samsung Nexus S already boasts an NFC chip, making it possible to pay at NFC-capable terminals.

This is a big deal, and for once, Google’s ahead of Apple. Your choice of smartphone could someday soon be the equivalent of your choice in credit cards, and Google has beaten Apple to the ground in this race. They’ll be testing their payment system sooner, giving them even more of a chance of amassing a dominant share of the nascent market before Apple does.